


Where The Blackness Burns Beneath

by ghiblitears



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Gen, Mind Control, Mind Manipulation, Minific, Mission Gone Wrong, Post-Season/Series 03, Speculation, basically my take on narti's mind control powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-29
Updated: 2017-08-29
Packaged: 2018-12-21 10:56:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11942664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghiblitears/pseuds/ghiblitears
Summary: A mission goes awry when the most alien of Lotor's generals catches Lance off-guard.





	Where The Blackness Burns Beneath

**Author's Note:**

> This work was inspired by [this piece of art by maggie-m-mae ](https://maggie-m-mae.tumblr.com/post/163900744689/i-was-pretty-impressed-with-season-3-though-i) and [ this post by radioactivesupersonic](http://radioactivesupersonic.tumblr.com/post/164424109820/fun-tidbits-on-team-lotor-ezors-head-tendril) . I love all the speculation around Narti and what could happen if she were to take control of one of the Paladins, so I decided to write a short fic.
> 
> I also listened to "Deep End" by Ruelle on repeat while writing this, hence the title. Give it a listen if you want some Langst mood music.
> 
> Unbeta'd and written on my phone. Enjoy!

The instant Lance feels a clawed hand on his neck, the situation shifts from manageable to terrifying.

 

His assailant doesn't have him in a chokehold. In fact, they aren't even tightening their grip. But the world hushes almost instantly at their touch, fog entrenching his thoughts and swirling through his consciousness. His mind drifts like ink dropped into water. When he stands from the position he'd been in, crouched against the wall in the darkness of the Galra base, it's not of his own accord. Lance freezes up when they speak in his mind, several incoherent ghostly whispers drifting across his mind before one finally sticks out;

 

_ Paladin . _

 

The word is quiet but deadly in tone, a wisp of a voice that promises things to come. A chill runs through him, emanates like ice from where her hand rests against his skin at the base of his neck. The other hand snakes up atop his head over his helmet.

 

_ Who are you?! You're one of Lotor's generals, aren't you? The creepy one with the cat! Let me go, or-- _

 

_Or what?_    Now he's walking, moving back towards the rest of the group. He's never moved so effortlessly through a Galra base. There's no more sentries -- he'd taken care of that before he'd set up at the corner, before this whole mess had started. The rest of Team Voltron was spread out throughout the base, picking targets and drop points to do some damage. It should have been routine, it shouldn't have gone off the rails this fast. None of them had expected Lotor's generals to be here, and if one of them had him--

 

Panic rises in his chest, rushes up his throat to choke him when he realizes what her plan entails. She looks down the corridor with his eyes.  _ Don't worry, Lance. You're here to serve a greater purpose. _

 

He wants to recoil when she plucks his name from his mind and speaks it silently. She -- this creature, whatever she may be -- has no right. 

 

_You can know my name too, Lance._   Her tone has turned light, conversational, nonchalant in the face of horror. _It's_ _  Narti . _

 

_ You're only making this worse for yourself _ , he thinks in her direction. They're further down the corridor now and Narti walks him down the right side, following the path laid out in his helmet's visor. His heart hammers when he sees a familiar yellow marker pop up down the next corridor.  _ When you let me go I'll take you out myself. And then the rest of the team will take out Lotor. We'll-- _

 

_ When you have finished your purpose here you will be broken like the rest _ , Narti says.   _I have guided commanders, soldiers, and civilians alike. Deity or alcolyte,they all end up the same when I'm done._

 

To call it "guiding" instead of "mind control" is an insult, in his opinion. The word is a dressed wound -- fine and pretty from the outside until the bandage is stained with blood and reveals the ugly truth. Narti halts him at the edge of the hall, pulling his gaze down the other side until she sees her prize; the neatly laid out guide provided by the helmet to best lead him to his teammates. A grid traces the floor, points him helpfully towards his friends.

 

_You have quite an interesting history, Lance_ ,  she says, and ice runs through his veins.  _ A lot of names for yourself, and all of them a shade darker than what you call your teammates. _

 

_ Stop _ .

 

The tangibility of her probing scares him, like she's scratching away at the layers of his mind. It's reopening old wounds, uncovering the deepest parts of him. He wants to pull away, to run.

 

_ You strive to make others laugh because you're afraid without that you're nothing. That without you everything will continue as it was. And then there's this lion switch, playing havoc with your position on the team... _

 

_ Get out of my head _ , he thinks, and he hopes it sounds as incensed to her as it does to him. She laughs quietly, which only serves to piss him off more. They walk.

 

In the next hall he can almost sense the presence of someone else, a buzzing at the edges of his mind. The sensation is stark against the rest of his dulled senses. The cat that usually accompanies her hisses in his ear before leaping off his shoulder to scout ahead. He doesn't flinch --  _ can't _  even flinch. They pause as she examines the path through the cat's eyes, and then they round the corner.

 

The red bayard has never felt so heavy in his hands.

 

Blue lights and bright white armour give away Hunk's position easily at the other side of the corridor, and he startles at Lance's approach before turning to face him. He looks surprised for a second before confusion overtakes his features.

 

"Lance?" Hunk calls. "I thought you were going to set up on the other side..." he trails off when he catches sight of the second figure behind him.

 

He has to resist. He can't do this. He can't fight Hunk, he can't hurt Hunk, he can't--

 

Narti drops her hand from atop his head and lets it fall to his shoulder, where her clawed hand digs nails into him. She stares down the barrel of his rifle with his eyes, and aims with his hands.

 

_ You have drawn your weapon _ , Narti says in honey and venom,  _ and you are going to attack. _

 

Time stands still .

 

He's thankful that their training has paid off, because it only takes one shot to stick in the wall before Hunk dodges to the side and throws his energy shield up in front of him. Lance's vision greys out as he tries to resist her hold. Blaster bolts from his rifle fly across his vision and the bayard recoils in his hands with every shot, and all he can do is fervently pray that he misses every one.

 

"Lance, snap out of it!" Hunk says with a voice that's edged with fear. He yells in surprise and pain when one of the shots catches his arm and he drops the energy shield. He grabs at the injured limb, allowing his bayard to fall to the floor from his slack grip.

 

_No_!

 

Lance feels like he's back on the ship, stuck in the airlock and screaming for help.

 

Hunk moves to the side and disappears around the corner. Lance unconsciously stalks forward, peering down the rifle to where he hid. The rest of the team must be coming, he thinks. They must hear the commotion, must be listening in over the radios. They'll be there any minute to take down Narti.

 

_ Unless they're not coming to your aid after all _ _?_ Narti asks.  _ Your friend, the red one -- Keith? He wanted to leave your princess in the hands of the Galra. What makes you think he won't do the same to you? _

 

_ Things are different _ , Lance counters.  _ We've been a team for half a year. They wouldn't do that. Keith wouldn't do that. _

 

She shoots another smoking crater into the wall.  _ I could find out for you ,  _ she says. _ Wouldn't you like to know your teammates' thoughts? What they really think of you? _

 

The red bayard gives the slightest tremor in his grip.  _ Stay away from my friends! _

 

Narti seems surprised, and glances down at the weapon. _ Resistance! You're stronger than you look, Lance. I'll give you that _ . She speaks with grudging approval. _ But I'll fix that soon enough _ . His grip tightens on the rifle, painfully so.

 

The mental conversation comes to an abrupt end when a bright green katar shoots out and wraps around Narti's wrist.

 

Her grip is wrenched from him as Pidge pulls back, and their connection severs instantaneously. The red bayard goes flying to skitter across the floor and deactivate into its sheath. When Lance is freed every single ounce of energy leaves him and he drops, colliding heavily with the floor as a dead weight. Beyond him he can hear Pidge fighting Narti.

 

Hunk reemerges and grabs awkwardly for his weapon to fire back at her. The sound is muted, like he's hearing it from underwater. Lance's ears ring slightly and his vision blurs.

 

Several minutes later, just as his vision starts to go fuzzy around the edges, Pidge drops to her knees next to him and grabs his shoulder. She must have driven Narti off because she would never have let her guard down otherwise.

 

"--you hear me? Lance!" She looks up in alarm. "What's wrong with him?"

 

"Whatever she did messed with his head," Hunk replies. He moves into Lance's field of vision, and Lance's heart quietly breaks when he sees how Hunk cradles his injured arm. "Keith, if you're there, we need an extraction. It's an emergency."

 

Lance winces when static buzzes in his ears. No doubt it's a reply from Keith, but he can't quite make out the words.

 

"Lance?" There's Pidge again, hovering at the edge of his vision. Her amber eyes are wide with worry behind the pale blue of her visor. One of her hands is outstretched, like she wants to reach for him again, but she hesitates. 

 

Hunk reaches down and pulls Lance up, slinging his arm over his shoulders. Pidge moves to provide support on his other side, hooking Lance's other arm over her. They start to walk back down the hall, back towards the entrance they'd come from.

 

"I'm sorry," Lance chokes out, and his voice is so hoarse and quieted that he thinks they must not catch it, until Hunk squeezes the hand that's thrown over his shoulders.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr at [ghiblirey](http://ghiblirey.tumblr.com) or my VLD blog, [espressopidge](http://espressopidge.tumblr.com)!


End file.
